2016 Chevrolet Malibu Aims To Do More Than Just Compete

Sponsored Links

The midsize sedan segment represents both one of the highest-selling and competitive spaces in the entire automotive market, coupled with an incredibly jumpy consumer base. There are next to no truly bad cars here, yet margin between victory and defeat can be incredibly slim, and repercussions for the stragglers comes in the form of buyers fleeing from a particular model or brand. Unfortunately, Chevrolet had to learn that the hard way.

A midsize sedan like the Malibu is “the heart of what people think of a brand,” noted GM’s chief of global product development, Mark Reuss to Automotive News.

“If you do it right, there’s an opportunity to change the brand,” he said. “It’s what people think about the capability of the company.”

But as Chevrolet global VP Alan Batey points out, ticking those boxes “is not enough to threaten Honda and Toyota, who have truly dominated this segment for many years. You need more, and this Malibu delivers more.”

Sponsored Links

12 Comments

The Malibu should easily take 3rd spot with what they have. With good marketing and continued refinement they can in time even threaten the top two in sales. Toyota and Honda have a lot of brand loyalty and it is something only time with continued better product can really break.

Keeping the pressure on in time will wear them down. But Chevy needs to be aggressive with their refinement and marketing.

Ford is just the other new kid in this group as the Fusion is new to the top of the list and hold less of a brands loyalty here.

I think many even here do not really understand how good this car will be. This is not close to the present model and is even that much better than the 08-12 model that did so well.

Refinement, MPG and styling will all mix to great sales but GM still need to market it properly and not just sit them on the lot and expect people to come to them. You have to take the message to the customer that you have the best car in segment and show them why. This is the segment people look for reliability, refinement, Value, and MPG. The fact is even to be number one or two you don’t even have to be good looking so that will be just an added bonus.

I had some pause with this car till I got to spend some time on the details and it looks like it will be a home run car here.

Honestly I’m considering the Malibu to replace my G6. I honestly don’t find anything wrong with the current gen. This next gen will be much better for sure. I’m 6′ 2 and I fit behind myself perfectly and that’s the same with G6. I just don’t see what’s the hype with the current gen since everyone is complaining about the backseat legroom. I mean the rear doors are shorter than the rear doors that’s in my G6 but that’s about it.

Vic, you are correct. There is nothing wrong with the current 2013-2015 models. My family has been quite happy with our 2013 for the past 2 years. The problem was media perception and the barrage of unfair negative reviews. The new Malibu is beautiful and it’s nice to see Chevrolet responding to the thrown gauntlet of Ford, Mazda and Kia (seriously, the others are bland). People will always find fault with things that may not bother others. However, The only thing that bothers me is the Malibu’s loss of identity. Yes, it looks like an Impala, Fusion, Kia etc. I guess that’s what the mass market wants. I for one am very happy with the distinct look of the 2013-2015 models. You can spot them from a mile away. The ride is very comfortable and this 47 year old loves driving around town or the open highway in this wonderful midsize auto. As with anything in life. Choose what best works for you.

Just how do you compete with Fusion , the current number three leader without AWD . With climate change and winter driving conditions even extending down south sometimes , AWD is getting POPULAR ! Instead , Chevy will offer a hybrid . This is a responsible choice but with the huge glut of oil in America , sales will be slow and not profitable . So stop early entry of this model and instead FAST TRACK AWD !!!

You do understand that the sales of the AWD Ford is only 10-12% and around 23K cars in a segment that the two leaders who do not offer AWD sell many more cars than Ford in third.

I live in the snow belt and we see more snow than most of the country and we get around just fine with FWD. The ELC and a decent set of tires will get you just about anywhere unless you have a long unplowed driveway.

The fact is MPG is more important in this segment and this car was made lighter to get MPG that will be more a factor in the 90% of the sales vs AWD.

Buick for just a little more offers AWD in all their cars. GM has an option of a different division that can focus on this option much better with a much better system than Ford has.

Contrary to what some believe we here in the snow belt seldom see AWD cars. If we want AWD or 4×4 we buy SUV models and trucks.

The real benefit to a good AWD is in performance cars not for snow but for power getting put down to the ground.

Anyways the fact is AWD is a help in snow but no where seen as a mandatory option for people who drive in it daily. To us it is seen as just a 1800-2000 dollar option.

The hybrid is being offered because file economy regulations are being tightened in nearly every major country in the world. Plus using some of the mechanical bits from the Volt helps lower the cost of offering these systems in both the Volt and Malibu. Oil prices will spike again regardless of supply when one of the countries in the Mideast truly erupts again or we have a few more derailments of oil trains or the oil companies get greedy. AWD is a niche product that is unnecessary for success.

Yes the hybrid is going to be key to help develop better and better systems and help bring down the price of even more advanced system.

The deal on oil is we have plenty to last a long time but we are prevented from going after much or getting it cheap. Then middle east or not it is not so much the oil companies being greedy but the fact that oil is a traded commodity.

The fact most people do not understand the oil market is why there is so issue on getting the things we need done to control it. The oil companies benefit buy the high demand and low supply. If we tapped into much of the oil that the environment people stop us from getting the supplies would be much higher and the prices will drop.

The fact that global supply and demand controls the price and yet our country does not tap near what we could do to drop prices. This is why Saudi Arabia has been able to control the price of oil with their production. Iran gains control of this and we could see a major change in the price.